It is the Elitism, Stupid

It is extraordinary the media organ of the corporate elite, The Wall Street Journal, would actually publish an opinion piece like this one.

It's because of the class issues I so ardently supported John Edwards for president, and I am not sorry I did, regardless of the Druck/Hunter/Enquirer mess and the blackmail no doubt resulting in Edwards withdrawing from the race abruptly.

Without addressing issues that matter to working people, Obama has no chance at all. In fact, given his University of Chicago connections, he's as much a Republican elitist as the Republicans.

Despite Mr. Obama's assertions that his campaign is about "you," much of his campaign is, in fact, all about him. In the months since the primaries ended, his creation and display of a mock presidential seal with his name on it, his speech at a mass rally at the Prussian Victory Column in Berlin, and his insistence on delivering his acceptance speech in front of fabricated Greek columns in a stadium holding 80,000 chanting supporters have crossed the thin line that separates galvanizing voters and plain old demagoguery.

In this context, it should come as no surprise that Sarah Palin, mother of five, hockey mom turned governor and maverick reformer, would instantly zero in on the inherent weakness in Mr. Obama's candidacy, and contrast it with her own compelling life story.

It is ironic that the candidate who comes from a more privileged background -- John McCain -- can genuinely point to at least one crucial moment in his life when elitism went by the boards. Because John McCain's father was a high-ranking Navy Admiral, he was offered freedom from a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp. He refused, saying that he would leave only when every prisoner who had been captured before him was also released.

Delusions of grandeur won't win elections unless one rigs the voting machines. Otherwise, forget it. The more the Obama campaign indulges in filth against McCain and Palin, the more likely people will turn against Obama.

I wouldn't even be surprised given Obama's tanking in the polls the GOP does little in the way of smearing. Obama and his campaign are their own worst enemies.

(HT: Commenter Mary Louise)